GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Mayflies are swarming Gaston County towns along the South Fork River this summer.
One resident said it is like a scene from a horror movie or a biblical plague.
"Wow, it's like a locust invasion," Nicole Antunes said of the water-borne insects, which emerge every May.
In the early mornings, town workers use leaf blowers to blow away the bug remains that sometimes stack up 3 inches high on the Goat Island Bridge.
One morning they packed 20 trash bags full of dead mayflies and needed a front-end loader to scoop them off of the ground.
Preston Guy, who owns Cramerton Drugs, has security cameras posted around the store that have captured swarms buzzing around the lights at night until they are completely covered.
"They are awful," Guy said. "When you're blowing them off, they get in your hair."
His parking lot is littered with dead bugs. In the mornings, he uses a shovel to clear the area.
He worries because scattered showers are forecast for this weekend, and rain seems to stir up more flies.
"The difficult thing is getting them up before it really rains again," Guy said.
The bugs are now a threat, and workers are gearing up to handle the mess, City Manager David Pugh said.
"They are going to come, as nature does sometimes, and we will be prepared to sweep off the piles and get rid of them come the next morning," Pugh said.
The bugs usually disappear by the end of July, he said.
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